Social Skills

Most people would now agree that home-schooling is a viable alternative academically. Many, however, may feel that socially, home-schooling is inferior to other forms of education. Home-schoolers do not have the continual access to other children as do their counterparts at public schools. Children need to be exposed to their peers to learn social skills necessary for later life. Home-schooling can provide the necessary social opportunities for a child. Home-school groups have sprouted to meet this need and...

Q: With Independence Day around the corner, is there anything I can do to help our dog, Betty, who gets really nervous about the fireworks displays held fairly close to our home? -- M.M., Deerfield, IL A: Run away! If you can, slip away for a few days to somewhere reasonably quiet. If a trip to a quiet cottage in the woods is not practical, however, you do need to be proactive. Waiting until July 3 at midnight would leave you few options. If Betty is truly terrified by...

Learning to share can be as important as learning to multiply and divide, according to Lynette Zimmer, principal at Fremont Elementary School in Mundelein. So Zimmer has created the STAR Program to help the students in her kindergarten through 3rd-grade building develop their social skills. Using a series of lessons Zimmer created, teachers in all classrooms take about 10 minutes a day to work with the STAR themes: Share with others, talk problems out, always act helpful and...

Parent advice From our panel of staff contributors You could explain to him that others are getting the wrong impression of him. That probably won't turn him into a latter-day Cary Grant, but it might at least get him thinking. A shy teenage boy is dealing with a lot of issues, so you can't push him or nag about this. He'll likely grow out of it. And you never know, that perceived rudeness might make him a hot commodity among a certain segment of the female teenage population.

Most summer school classes offer students a blend of fun and academics built around popular topics like the rain forests, recycling or aliens. But in Elmhurst, Patti Blazejak's course gives them something else to carry into the new school year. Social Skills focuses on the kids themselves, helping them develop important life skills. "In my years as a social worker, I've found that social skills and self-esteem are two of the things that kids really need help with," said...

In a May 2 letter, Sue Wogan suggested that teachers have no right to protest the amount of testing demanded by today's educational mandates (“ Student success ,” Voice of the People, May 2). She raises the question: Beyond "basic math, English, reading, history, etc.," what else should teachers be teaching? I must begin by pointing out that all teachers have at least four years of college preparation and must have a professional certificate before teaching. In short, Wogan is second-guessing a large...

It's really great when you find one person who can be everything to you, your best friend, your lover, your favorite companion. The person who makes you laugh, picks you up when you're down, soothes you when you're stewing. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. Stacy and John's relationship started out as purely physical. "Our attraction was mutual and intense, demonstrated quickly after meeting." But once she got to know him, she found he was lacking in some...

By Mike Collett LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - There is much more to becoming a top-class footballer these days than having the ability to dribble the ball like World Player of the Year Lionel Messi or score goals like Real Madrid's dynamic Cristiano Ronaldo. The best players also need mental toughness based on social skills that include self-awareness, the ability to understand team mates and a positive mental attitude honed by years of pastoral support...

`Hi. My name is Mark. What's your name?" This common introduction, though simple enough, is one of the things many children fear the most. The skills involved with social interaction seem automatic to adults, but it's a difficult thing for some children to learn. Although Lake County schools do not have social skills as part of their curriculum, the number of children receiving assistance through school social workers is increasing. Julie Gayer, social worker at Grass Lake School, says, "There's a rise in...

http://www.kidsdr.com I've been cleaning up my desk and leafing through stacks of pediatric articles I found especially interesting. One by Dr. Barbara Howard entitled, "Three Magic Words Offer Food for Thought," made a wonderful point regarding family meals and eating habits. Howard notes that one of the best questions to ask a child during a "well-child" visit requires only three words, but offers so much insight into a family's interactions: "How are your meals?" Readers...

Travis Tassone stood in the center of the room and crooned an Elvis tune for his teenage friends when it happened, again. "Toenails!" he blurted. He clapped his hands to his mouth. He was trying so hard not to say that word. It's one of those expressions — like "Merry Christmas" — that he says compulsively. "I'm sorry …" he said. Life is filled with such small struggles at Our Place, a day program in downtown Wilmette for young people with developmental...

My friend Kathy, who was set up with Nick (but it didn't "click"), said, "I have someone who would be a good match for you. " At that time, I was very content: a new home, traveled three times a year, had good friends. But my social skills were getting "rusty" so I decided, yes, I would go out with him. Nick and I were a very good match. We started dating and got married two years later. We will celebrate our 20th anniversary this June. By the way, we set up Kathy with Bob; they were married two years after us. ...

A California-based fitness center chain catering to children is bounding into the Chicago area, with four new gyms opening in six months. My-Gym Children's Fitness Centers, which opened a facility in Schaumburg in late August, aims to be more than just a Bally's for the Barney set. "There seems to be a health club for grown-ups on every corner, but there is really nothing like this that caters only to children," said Alla Zilber, owner of...

Parents often flock to books dispensing advice about how to rear children who possess both the social skills to be well liked among their peers and the academic chops to make it to the Ivy League. Hyde Park residents Grayson Kachingwe and Donna Larrieu managed to succeed at both with their two daughters, but in a pretty unconventional way. Marsella Kachingwe, 23, is working on her master's degree in geophysics at Brown University. Olivia Kachingwe, 21, is about to graduate from the...

Reading, writing and arithmetic are central lessons for any elementary school child. But so are learning how to make friends, to listen to other people's ideas and to resolve fights that spring up on the playground, says author and educator Mona Hajjar Halaby. "When I was going through school, the thing that was really as interesting to me was my socialization with my friends," she said. "The teachers never talked about that, but that was the thing that we students struggled with the most.

As president of Love Systems, a Los Angeles-based dating company, Nick Savoy has spent the better part of a decade helping dudes find their A game. And then bring it with them to dinner. Along the way, he has learned about these would-be Romeos and their predilections. His new book, "It's Your Move: How to Play the Game and Win the Man You Want" (Grand Central Publishing), is a collection of these gleanings. We chatted with Savoy about some of his tips. Following is an edited transcript.

There was never any doubt in Arlene Brennan's mind that she was meant to be a teacher. "I've loved young children since I was little," says Brennan, a 1st-grade teacher at Ogden Elementary School, 24 W. Walton St. "I took care of the children in the neighborhood, volunteered for a Head Start program in college, and always knew that I wanted to be a teacher." Brennan has never regretted her decision. The hours spent leading her pupils through the basics of reading,...

Sixteen years ago, Laura Lara followed her husband from a small town in Mexico to Chicago, hoping to improve her life. What she found was a new struggle - no friends, no family and no connections to the community around her. Then she discovered Right From the Start, a project of Chicago-based Family Focus Inc. It aims to help immigrant families raise healthy children, and a big part of that is making sure the parents are socially integrated....

Making connections can be a challenge for many teens, but it has been especially tough for Erron Gerstein, an 18-year-old student with autism at Vernon Hills High School. Although he wanted to socialize with other students, simply approaching them was often daunting. But Erron has become more bold since he enrolled in "Tutorial: A Program for Independence," a new class offering this school year. "Starting a conversation - it was hard," he said. Tutorial instructors...